Cambodia considers extending school hours from 4 to 6 a day

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia – Cambodia is considering extending daily study hours in public schools from four to six, with additional time devoted to Khmer language and mathematics, Prime Minister Hun Manet said.

Speaking to 2,044 top-performing students in Phnom Penh on Wednesday, 28 October, Hun Manet said shortages of teachers and classrooms had forced schools to reduce teaching hours, leaving students with insufficient time to study key subjects in depth.

“Public schools should have six hours of study a day. With the current curriculum, four hours forces teachers to cut too many lessons, preventing students from studying subjects in depth,” he said.

The prime minister said an additional two hours of afternoon classes had been tested. He instructed the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport and the Ministry of Economy and Finance to assess the proposal’s feasibility and prepare an implementation plan.

Hun Manet said longer school hours could strengthen students’ foundational knowledge, improve the quality of national education and ease parents’ childcare burdens by reducing the amount of unstructured free time available to children.

He also outlined plans to improve public schools nationwide by expanding successful practices from existing model schools.